Aspen Ridge Condominiums

Take a walk up the Snake River.

by johngayton

With the arrival of spring in April, a little later in the year than elsewhere given the 9,500+ ft elevation, the snow finally begins to melt and the river actually becomes liquid for the first time. The waterfall at the back of the condo, which previously didn't exist, becomes more vociforous as the days pass. By late April the river is finally worthy of the term.

One afternoon with the sun high, my brain fuzzy from sitting in front of this screen and a freshness to the spring air: the river's siren song finally tempts me to explore it and a pleasant and interesting walk it is too.

I think there is a sort of trail here but it is a summer one and so with parts of it still snow-covered my route alternates between the accessible parts of the riverbank and up and down from the adjacent road - there are still several snowed-under parts of the river which are perhaps not a good idea to assume are atop firm ground.

This river walk intrigues as civilisation comes and goes, the remainsof a campfire with a midden of beer bottles is located by the river bank which must be recent and then the next half mile takes me away from the road before returning to its vicinity and a pair of foot bridges, both wooden, leading across to a small grouping of houses. The river is punctuated by several waterfalls, some formed by the terrain, others temporarily by a jam of flotsam. A lone pondskater finds a relatively calm pool and does whatever it does skimming above a shallow where trapped air bubbles left over from last winter's mini "ice-age" are rising from the silt. A huge rock sits in one bend, obviously having been there for millenia, split in two by a more recent event, the power of probably a trickle of water becoming ice every year and deepening the rent until the solid mass is split almost symetrically.

Enough verbiage, here's the pics:

PS Website is general Colorado but following map links gives a good overview of the various river courses.